Continuous loop belt conveyors having an output end roller are known to be adapted for separation of ferrous materials conveyed by the conveyor. Such adaptation magnetizes the cylindrical outer surface of the conveyor's output end roller.
As a beneficial result of such conveyor output roller, magnetization, non-ferrous items such as plastics which are forwardly carried along the conveyor's upper flight may dispense at the conveyor's conventional output, while ferrous items, such as intermixed scrap nails and screws may separately dispense from the conveyor's lower flight upon rearwardly exiting the roller's magnetic field.
Where materials to be separated by such conveyor belt magnetic separators are magnetically permeable or have a high level of magnetic susceptibility, conventional and known configurations of permanent magnets within and upon the conveyor's output roller may acceptably separate ferrous items from other conveyed materials. However, in some circumstances the material conveyed by a magnetic separating conveyor becomes piled to a depth which raises ferrous materials away from the magnetic roller, and in other circumstances, ferrous materials with low magnetic susceptibility, such as scrap stainless steel, are carried upon the conveyor. In such circumstances, the conventional and known magnetic roll configurations often unacceptably attract and separate the ferrous materials.
The instant invention magnetic roll solves such magnetic strength related problems by specially configuring a tubular matrix of permanent magnets to present a specialized array of magnetic north and south poles at the roll's outer surface and by magnetically armaturing an inverse inward array of magnetic poles.